For women in agriculture, balancing farm duties, business management, caregiving, and community leadership can leave little time to build strong bonds or rekindle family connections.

At the AWC West 2025 conference, Carlamay Sheremata, speaker and author of Youth Truth: Engaging in Conversations That Can Change Lives, says small, intentional moments, or what she calls “micro-minutes,” can have a significant impact.

“It’s just the little things each day,” Sheremata explains. “It could be a five-minute check-in, driving home from school, or a simple good morning hug. Those little things all of a sudden build that connection with the kids.”

The Canadian Cattle Association (CCA) is disappointed and frustrated by tariffs imposed by the American government, saying a prolonged trade war between Canada and the United States will result in major challenges for cattle producers across the country.

"We've put a lot of time and effort into advocating against the tariffs," says Tyler Fulton, Vice President of the Canadian Cattle Association. "We advocated directly with our U.S. counterparts to make sure they understood the consequences to their industry and the U.S. consumer as well."

"It's frustrating that we find ourselves in this position, and I can't help but think that, at some point, all of this pain could have been avoided."

Fulton notes the cattle industry is deeply intertwined across North America, with cattle frequently moving between Canada and the U.S. for grazing, feeding, and processing. The sudden tariffs have left many producers scrambling.

"I can't think of a more risky time to be in the cattle business than what we've got right now."

The tariffs imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump on Canada and Mexico are shaking up Alberta’s food industry, and local processors are already feeling the pressure.

Bianca Parsons, Executive Director of the Alberta Food Processors Association, says businesses are already struggling to adapt. Long-term contracts with major retailers in the United States make it difficult to absorb sudden cost increases.

“They have contracts with major retailers in the United States selling their food and beverage products,” says Parsons. “Those contracts obviously don’t include a 25% increase in tariff. They’re now trying to renegotiate those contracts so that they can still make a viable business.”

We're just weeks away from seeding and planting. It's the time when farmers and ranchers start browsing long-range weather forecasts to try to figure out how to prepare for the spring.

It looks like Alberta and part of Saskatchewan will miss out on the bounty of moisture this week, until you look at rainfall. The map below shows expected rainfall over the same time period:

Building a successful leadership and team-building workshop is about putting the right blocks in place to build a base.

There is no better example of this than Shanyn Silinski's workshop, Foundations of Team Work, Brick by Brick, one of the many workshops to be held at the upcoming Advancing Women in Agriculture West Conference, March 16 - 18 at the Hyatt Downtown in Calgary.

The unique session will utilize Lego as the building blocks for the lessons. 

Silinski, a Senior Strategic Partner at Olds College, says she has seen firsthand the power of Lego in team-building workshops after holding similar workshops for companies like Brandt and John Deere.

"It’s amazing how much you can learn about a team when you strip everything down to something as simple as Lego. People relax, have fun, and suddenly, they work together in ways you wouldn’t expect."

For more on this story go to ruralrootscanada.com.

Ashley Nicholls, founder of Reach Agricultural Strategies, is set to debut a new initiative aimed at making agricultural education more accessible to local communities.

The seminar series, Reach Ranch Talks, will kick off on February 20th at High River Brewing at 6:00 PM, offering farmers and ranchers a chance to engage in discussions about communication at the farm and ranch level.

Warmer weather’s on the way. But….not much snow.

Every day forward is a day closer to when we break out of the Arctic air mass that has kept the prairies cold since the beginning of February. And the wait is getting shorter. By the end of this week, each of the three prairie provinces will see temperatures climb above the melting point. And, the further west you are, the sooner the warm air arrives.

What can we learn from the world’s oldest farming market traditions?

The executive director of Farmers’ Markets of Nova Scotia and recent Nuffield Scholar Justin Cantafio, travelled across Mexico, Europe, and Turkey to find the answer.

His biggest takeaway? Local food systems aren’t just about food, they’re about culture, community, and accessibility.

“I purposely sought out regions of the world or countries that have market traditions going back hundreds, and in some cases, thousands of years, because I really wanted to see what that means,” said Cantafio. “Whether it was in urban or rural Mexico, or Malta, or throughout continental Europe into Turkey, the same thing kept happening over and over and over again, and that was how important the embedded nature of local food systems are and how incredibly good farmers markets and public markets are at embedding food and culinary traditions and access to traditional foodways into the everyday life of the populace.”

Getting a first-hand look at the daily lives of farmers is an excellent way to help the public understand where their food comes from.

Last year, during my travels across the U.K. and Europe, I had the chance to spend time with Pete and Paula Hynes, dairy farmers in Cork, Ireland. Not only are they experts in their field, but they also excel at sharing their experiences through mainstream media and social platforms.

Paula explains that showcasing their farm helps highlight the family-oriented nature of Irish dairy farming.

"We're passionate about our cows and our people," she says. "We share everything—the good, the bad, the ugly. There's no point in only showing the pretty side. Cows die, calves die. It's important to show it all."